mp3 players in the winter

hey, im working on my player now, so i dont think i will have it in this winter, but what im wondering is if there are any common problems with having a computer in the cold. i live near chicago so we can get some damn cold weather up here. if all works according to plans, im going to have a couple lcd screens running in the car along with, obviously, the computer. i notice on alot of the lcd data sheets that they have minimum temps for storage and operation. what is going to happen to all this stuff when i let it sit overnight in the freezing winter weather.

any comments, suggestions, problems welcome. any input whatsoever so i can know what to expect.

thanks all

~Mike

Single Member of the "1000 Post and No MP3 Car" Club
PROJECT ON INDEFINATE HOLD... BOUGHT A HOUSE
2000 Cavalier Z24 [###-------] Only 30% Done ... Still

Well coldness hasnt seemed too bad for my player. The main thing to watch out for is heat. Also during the winter, becareful of turning on your heater if your mp3player is located somewhere in the car, not in trunk.

I'm in Canada eh, and I don't seem to have any problems with the cold. I've even used the player when the car refused to start one morning. The only thing you really have to watch for is condensation, but since most players are in cases, it doesn't seem to matter all that much anyway.

I don't know about your LCD screen, but again, laptops and palmtops are always finding their way into the cold, so I don't think it will be much of a problem.

mp3z24: i live like an hour or so away from you and my system has been fine for the past 3 winters. The specs for most hard drives say that you shouldnt get them below freezing, but i have never heard of that happening. Not much to worry, but you will have great cooling for the cpu. Nice time to overclock, heh.

I actually work in a computer store in des Moines Iowa and I actually talked to some of my tech's about weather factors. Anyhou, they seemed to think that if you alow the car time to warmup or cool down to "room temperature" (around 70 degrees)before you power on the computer you should not have any problems what so ever, this should also eliminate the risk of condensation b/c the cause will be warm and water will not condense on it.

on a VERY cold night last year I had my old car on the street at my mates (its usually kept undercover). hopped in the car, powered on my then system without thinking.... system didnt boot. On closer inspection I could hear the HDD really trying to startup with this audible "click" sound.

cracked the ****s cause I thought I had ruined the HDD through condensation, gave it one more shot the next and all was fine again! and that drive is still the one used in my current system!

Well, my concern is the LCD TFT display. Those backlights get bright, and very warm. powering up this "lightbulb" from -10 degrees F (-23 C) I'd think might blow it out. I'd imagine the smaller 2 line LCDs might be better, but how about the flatscreen panels?

My main drive is a 256 meg (compressed, so around 512meg) compact flashed hooked to IDE. my data (mp3 and copy of delorme CD) will be on a vert mount standard IDE drive.
If the HD craps out, its no biggy, just grab another, as the CF holds the OS, settings, drivers, etc..